Missing Pieces(81)

“Yes, of course,” Celia said. “Why?”

Sarah slipped past Celia and took the steps two at a time.

“Sarah, what’s going on? Where are you going?” Celia followed close behind but Sarah kept moving, checking each room. “What are you doing? What are you looking for?”

Sarah ignored her and moved toward the master bedroom. She flung open the door. The room was empty. A candle burned on a bedside table. One side of the queen-size bed was rumpled. A book lay open, spine up, atop the comforter. Sarah paused briefly and then stalked over to the closet, opened the door. Nothing but precisely hung blouses and trousers and shoes lined up neatly on the floor. Sarah pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes and gave a sharp bark of laughter.

She felt Celia come up behind her. “Are you okay? What’s the matter?”

Sarah turned to face her, cheeks high with color. What could she say to Celia? That she thought Jack was there to murder her and then after seeing the pile of clothing thought that maybe the two of them were having an affair? “Nothing,” Sarah said, flushed with embarrassment. “Nothing’s wrong. Just a stupid misunderstanding.”

“Let me get dressed,” Celia said. “We’ll go downstairs and talk.” Celia pulled on a pair of jeans and stepped into her shoes before leading Sarah downstairs to the kitchen.

“I think you’re in danger,” Sarah said, going to the kitchen window to peer outside. All was still. She turned back to Celia.

“Danger?” Celia said, laughing. She saw the distress on Sarah’s face and her smile fell away. “Why? You’re starting to scare me.”

“I think someone is killing the women in Jack’s family.”

“That’s not news, Sarah. Everyone knows that John Tierney killed his wife. As for Julia—” she shook her head regretfully “—as hard as it is to come to terms with, I think it was Amy.”

“But why?” Sarah asked. “What possible reason would she have for killing her aunt? It doesn’t make sense. Ever since I arrived in Penny Gate I’ve been getting strange emails. Cryptic messages referencing Lydia’s and Julia’s murders. Amy’s been in jail and there’s no way she could have sent them. I just got another one with a photo. The sender quoted the rhyme ‘Three Blind Mice.’ Here let me show you.” Sarah patted her pocket for her phone. It wasn’t there.

“You know how crazy this sounds,” Celia said. She went to the coffeemaker and poured them each a cup of coffee. She was beginning to sound impatient and Sarah knew she was losing her.

“The emails started out with three blind mice, then when Julia died I got one that said two blind mice and then one with one blind mouse.” Sarah raised her hand to her face. “And the photo shows Julia at the bottom of the steps. Both Lydia and Julia were found with something covering their eyes. They’re the blind mice.”

Celia carried her mug to the kitchen counter. “I just don’t buy it. It sounds insane.”

“Celia, someone just sent me a picture of Julia just after she was hit over the head and pushed down the stairs. Do you know where Jack has been all afternoon?” Sarah went to Celia’s side, ready to shake her in frustration. “At the sheriff’s department. I found an old broken watch on my windshield last night and Jack is sure that it belonged to his father.”

Celia turned to Sarah. “You think Jack’s dad put the watch there?”

“Not anymore. Gilmore says that the body in the cistern belongs to Jack’s dad.”

“Jack’s dad? But he’s the one who killed Lydia and ran away.”

“No, that’s not the way it happened,” Sarah said. She went to the back door and flipped the lock. “Keep your doors locked. You’re not safe.”

Celia shivered and crossed her arms across her chest. “What do you mean?”

“You’re the last farmer’s wife.”

“Oh, my God.” Celia brought her hands up to her mouth as if in prayer and began pacing around the kitchen.

Celia abruptly stopped walking. “But who? Who would do this?”

“For a while I thought maybe it was Jack, but now I’m not so sure. He couldn’t have been the one to hurt Julia. We weren’t even in Penny Gate when it happened.”

“Jack?” Celia said doubtfully. “None of this makes any sense at all. Why would Jack hurt Julia?”

“Maybe Amy and Jack planned it together? I don’t know. I know it sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. The only thing I can think of is that maybe Julia found out that Jack had something to do with Lydia’s death and Amy was trying to protect him. We came back to Penny Gate and he finished the job. And now that his dad’s body has been found, it looks even worse for him.”

“I just don’t believe it,” Celia said.

“Come on, Celia, even you tried to give him an alibi back then, when you told Gilmore that you had seen Jack at school at around the time of the murder. For a minute you even doubted him.”

“How do you know all this?” Celia asked warily. She slowly backed away from Sarah as if she was afraid of her.

Sarah shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, but I know. And I also know that Julia didn’t actually die from her head injuries. She was poisoned.”